


Fireside

by apostapal



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Kissing, M/M, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Winter, r76SecretSanta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 11:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apostapal/pseuds/apostapal
Summary: Jack and Gabriel take some time off in a secluded mountain cabin and have a morning they could only dream about before.





	Fireside

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Meatflaps](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meatflaps/gifts).



> My not-so-secret Secret Santa gift for @mysadtwodads <3 Thank you for running the event with me bb!

“Gabe, get up.”

The blanket pile on their bed shifted slightly. Followed by a drawn out ‘nnnh’ noise. Then, nothing. Jack sighed and pressed his hands against it, causing the noise to repeat in a slightly sharper pitch.

“It's Christmas, Gabe. Get up.”

More griping noises. Eventually, the blankets peeled back to reveal Gabriel--glaring up at him like he'd personally summoned the cold around them. Jack leaned down and fondly rubbed a hand over his head. (It was bare, meaning that old beanie was lost somewhere in the bedding again.) Gabriel recoiled a little and tucked his face down until it was just those dark brown eyes squinting apprehensively up at him.

“Your hands are cold.”

“So get up before I ruin the sanctity of your nest with them,” Jack teased.

“You wouldn't.”

He would. Jack moved to reach under the covers and Gabriel rolled, wrapping the blankets around him as he went, and shot him a glare from the other side of the bed.

“That's my side.”

Gabriel stuffed his face against Jack’s pillow and faked a hacking noise, like he'd coughed some sort of wraith hairball on it. Jack broke into a faint laugh and shook his head. He plopped down on the bed, reaching out, and was still met with a sideways glare.

“Gabe, c’mon--”

“We live without small children, haven't celebrated Christmas in 5 years, and you've got me snowed in in some fuck-off cabin in the mountains. Explain to me why, exactly, I should get up and freeze?” Gabriel grumbled and tucked back against Jack’s pillow.

Jack held his arms up and put on a little sulk before replying. “I made a fire. And coffee.” Gabriel cocked a brow at him from behind his blankets. “C’mon, why would you have agreed to this trip if you didn't like some parts of it?”

“I like the part where we’re alone. And I get to sleep.” Gabriel punctuated that one by poking a hand out from the covers and patting the mattress. “Also, the fireplace is nice. But you promised I'd get mulled wine and you rubbing my back in front of said fireplace, not ‘Gabe, get up, it's Christmas’.”

“Can't be both?” Jack offered. Gabriel snorted.

“No,” he said, wriggling his arms out from under the covers to reach for Jack. “Come here. I’m cold.”

“You said my hands were cold.”

“Rest of you isn’t.”

Hard to argue with that. Giving in, but only a little, Jack tugged the corner of the blankets away and climbed back into bed. Gabriel was glued to him the second he settled, cold hands tucked under his shirt. It was too common an occurrence for Jack to even really react. He just wrapped himself around Gabriel as best he could, blankets securely around them, and sighed contently.

“Fire’s going to go out,” he said. Gabriel tucked himself closer, nuzzling against his throat. “Coffee’ll get cold.” A little sigh. He could already feel Gabriel’s breathing slowing down. “Your gift is waiting on you.”

“Mm, this is my gift,” Gabriel mumbled. He was nearly asleep, voice slightly slurred.

“You get 15 minutes,” Jack said finally. No winning, might as well just enjoy himself. Gabriel made a noise of agreement, squeezed in closer, and drifted off not long after.

When he opened his eyes again, nearly double the time he’d promised had passed. Sighing, Jack nudged Gabriel’s side and got a soft ‘nnn’ in response. He did it again and the other man sighed loudly and leaned back to look at him.

“What?”

“Gabe, it’s Christmas.”

“Ugh.”

“My fire probably went out. Going to have cold coffee.” Jack did his best to sound long-suffering and tired about it but he really didn’t mind the idea. The fire likely still had plenty of embers and the coffee wouldn’t be too much of an issue to remake. But he could certainly still complain all he wanted.

“Five more minutes,” Gabriel begged.

This time, Jack didn’t take the bait. Instead, he slowly drug Gabriel along with him, arms firmly around his waist, toward the edge of the bed. Stepped off first, hunching awkwardly to lift Gabriel with him. A loud, indignant groan followed as Jack pulled him free of the blankets and awkwardly hauled him up in his arms, whole body limp. Gabriel’s toes brushed the cold floor with nothing but his socks and he recoiled, kicking a little to plant his feet on Jack’s knees.

“It’s cold!”

“You’ll live,” Jack replied, teasing. He’d already started out of the room but Gabriel put up a fuss, twisting in his grasp until he got set on his feet again. Once on solid ground he darted over to the bed and for a very brief moment Jack thought he’d have to pry him out again. Surprisingly, he simply grabbed a blanket to wrap around his shoulders before returning.

Jack looped an arm around him and towed him toward the den. Thankfully, the fire still had enough kick in it to restart easily. It was crackling happily when Jack left Gabriel in front of it to get coffee. He paused, only briefly, to plant a kiss on top of Gabriel’s head on the way by. Faint chuckling followed him out.

Unfortunately, coffee didn’t fare as well. The cups he’d left on the counter are cold, steam long vanished, so he rinsed out the brewer and started over. At least the kettle still had water left in it, meaning he could cut out the time to heat more. He tried to think of what to make for breakfast while the coffee steeped, leaning against the cabinets, but came up empty. He’d just have to pry it out of Gabriel eventually.

Coffee finished, he doctored and taste tested the cups accordingly and carried them out to the den. Gabriel hadn’t moved from where he left him, content to stay in front of the best source of warmth they had in the cabin. The firelight did Gabriel more than a few favors; not that he particularly needed them. Warmth washed over his skin, almost glowing where it touched. He looked serene, eyes closed as he basked in the heat, and for a moment Jack forgot himself. He felt 18 again, with that really awkward crush on his SEP partner. At least now, unlike then, he knew he could do something about it.

“Hey, handsome…”

A smile tugged at Gabriel’s lips but he didn't open his eyes. He just shifted, one ear tilted toward Jack’s voice.

“Hey.”

“Fire helping?”

“Mm.”

Jack sat down on the rug next to him, depositing their coffee on the hearth, and watched the light dance off Gabriel’s neck and face. It was so easy to forget, sometimes, what they'd been through. It just happened to them, it didn't give them time to understand. But the scars littering Gabriel’s exposed skin (as well as his own) served their story telling purposes all the same.

Jack reached out and rubbed his thumb over a particularly rough scar on Gabriel’s shoulder, hand cupping the back of his neck. Gabriel sighed faintly, like it felt good, and lulled his head to the other side.

“What's that one from?” Jack asked.

“Cut myself shaving.”

Jack leaned closer, fingers kneading the back of his neck. “Tell me?”

“Talon, botched mission,” Gabriel explained, eyes still closed. “Didn't know I could bleed that much anymore.”

Jack inched in a little closer--until he could press a kiss to the mark. Gabriel sighed; this long, contented thing like he'd been full of tension for days leading up to this. Jack smiled and pressed another kiss along his jawline.

“I'm still cold,” Gabriel said, hand catching Jack’s wrist when he moved his other hand to pull his blanket cape away.

He moved his head and caught Jack’s lips with his own, other hand cupping his cheek as he pressed in. Jack moved to deepen it, coffee lingering on his tongue evident from the way Gabriel scrunched his nose up. But he didn't pull away, instead moving his mouth against Jack’s and humming in the back of his throat. When they parted, Gabriel hiked his cape back up over his shoulders one-handed.

“Hey,” Jack said, “I had an idea. How to warm you up.”

Gabriel laughed, rubbing fondly at his cheekbone with his thumb. “Yeah? What?” he asked.

“Starts with the fire,” Jack said, motioning to the crackling fireplace beside them, “and we see where it goes from there.”

Grinning, Gabriel shook his head. “Well, I like things so far,” he said.

“Good,” Jack said, “I'm making progress.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes but the smile never left his face. “Maybe,” he said, “gift first.”

Oh, right! Jack half-crawled over to the tabletop tree they had next to the couch--not the best decoration job but it worked in a bind. And they were so often in a bind for time that it was a surprise they’d managed anything at all. He plucked the small box out from under it and shuffled back over to sit next to Gabriel, dropping it in his lap.

“What is it?”

“Just open it, dork.”

Finally, Gabriel did. He tore through Jack’s awkward wrapping job and cracked the box open, peering inside. His face shifted from smile, to curious frown, and right back to grinning at full blast as he did this. The box was tiny, probably a small give away, but the little velvet box inside it just told the whole story. He started talking before he realized, moving his hands awkwardly as Gabriel cracked the jewelry box open.

“I got had to get them repaired and refitted, since fire damage isn’t really kind to most metal,” he explained. “And I thought, while they were at it, engraving them might be nice. Since you said you always wanted to…”

He stopped, finally looking up, and found Gabriel rolling the band back and forth between his pointer finger and thumb. As the word ‘engraving’ registered for him, Gabriel twisted the ring to get a better look at the inside surface. His smile went a little strained, clearly fighting a more emotional response, when he read it.

“Come What May,” he said, “Jack…”

“I wanted something that, uh, fit the mood,” he tried to explain, unsure of himself again. “It’s just that’s what you said when we started working things out, and then you sang it to me, and I guess I just couldn’t get it out of my head.”

Gabriel beckoned him closer and Jack went, leaning heavy on his side and pressing his cheek into the noisy kiss Gabriel planted on it. An arm snaked around his waist, keeping him there, and he watched Gabriel clutch the ring in his palm like a lifeline before awkwardly fumbling to put it on with his arm still around Jack. Eventually, Jack just helped him slip it on and marveled briefly at the joy of something so seemingly mundane and expected.

“I love it,” Gabriel said, ring securely on his finger. “And I love you.”

Jack pressed a kiss to his temple, grinning. “Good,” he said, then, “so does that mean you’ll leave the safety of the fire to help me with breakfast now or..?”

Gabriel laughed and bumped his head lightly against Jack’s. “Maybe,” he said, “just give me a little while longer to warm up.”

“Offer to help still stands.”

Another laugh, and a light pinch at his ribs. “Maybe,” he said finally. “Even if I know it almost always backfires when you have plans like this.”

Jack grinned at him. “Hey, it works out sometimes.”

And maybe, just maybe, it would this time. One could never call Jack Morrison a quitter, that much was certain.


End file.
